Bhopal: In a shocking incident, a married woman was abducted and gang raped for 10 days in Shivpuri. The incident occurred under Bamore Kala police station limit in the district.

Following the complaint from the victim on Saturday, the police started a search for four accused – two of them for the charges of rape and abduction while others for supporting them.

According to the police, four persons abducted a married woman from a local market when she went to buy bangles on February 18. When they abducted her, her brother-in-law was waiting in the nearby bus stop to inform her about the bus in which they were to travel in. But when she did not return even after the arrival of the bus in which they were to board, he stared to search for her, but there was no trace.

Subsequently, he returned to home and informed about it and a missing person complaint was lodged. She, however, on Friday reached her home and narrated her 10 day ordeal.

According to her, Inder Lodhi and R Lodhi abducted her when she was on the way to buy bangles and took her to different places and raped her. The accused left her on Friday with a warning of dire consequences in case she dared to report it to anyone.

Samastipur: The social security cell, Samastipur has finally lodged FIRs against the owners of five nursing homes after over eight months of the uterus removal scam involving 17 private nursing homes in Samastipur district including removal of the names of the other 12 nursing homes from the panel of insurance company.

The decision was made by the core committee of NHIS.

These nursing homes had allegedly extracted a large amount of sum promising health services to Below the Poverty Line (BPL) families holding Smart Cards under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as every BPL family was entitled to get free health services worth Rs 30,000 under the scheme.

The police lodged FIRs against Dr Rajeev Kumar Mishra of Mishra Nursing Home, Dr B Prasad of Life Line Hospital and Mala Jha of Mala Nursing Home with Samastipur Town police station, Dr Mahesh Thakur of Krishna Hospital, Adarsh Nagar with Samastipur Mufassil PS and against Sangita Kumari of Pragya Seva Sadan with Patori PS of the district.

Like this:

Mumbai: A fisherman’s family at suburban Bandra on Sunday demanded filing an FIR against actor Salman Khan and his bodyguards for allegedly threatening them to shift their boats and fishing nets which were blocking sea view from the star’s cottages.

Three complaints were made at the Bandra police station in September 2011 and in May and December last year, but instead of registering FIRs against the bodyguards and actor, police have registered only non-cognisable offences, the victim Lawrence Falcon (65) said.

Salman Khan had bought two cottages ‘Belle View’ and ‘Benar’ at Bandra’s Chimbai area in 2011 and had barricades put up around them.

The fisherman’s family, who park their boats and put up fishing nets on the beach, alleged that Khan’s bodyguards started harassing them soon after he bought the property.

In a written complaint to Additional Police Commissioner Vishwas Nangre Patil’s office today, Falcon and his family claimed that the bodyguards asked them not to park their four boats or keep fishing nets on the beach as that would block the sea view from the star’s cottages.

Falcon also alleged that the plastic sheets used to cover their boats began disappearing. He claimed one of the family members was assaulted by Khan’s bodyguards.

Anil Joseph, chairperson of Perry Road Residents’ Association, who is helping the family, told PTI, “On Saturday, we met Nangre Patil and today we gave in writing, demanding an FIR against the actor, his father and bodyguards. A copy of the complaint was delivered at the office of Nangre Patil”.

Sources said Nangre Patil’s office had received the copy and the Additional CP has asked the family to meet him again on Tuesday. Nangre and Salman Khan were not available for comments.

Indore: In yet another shameful incident in Indore, a Mumbai-based woman was molested by two of her colleagues in a moving car. According to the victim, she moved from Surat to Indore due to her professional engagement. She is among those dozens of woman who travelled to Indore in search of their next part time job.

She told police that all the girls were asked to sit in a car while she was asked to adjust with two of their colleagues in another car. After few miles, they stated molesting her inside the moving car. She warned them several times before finally calling the police.

Indore: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has issued instructions to state medical council to conduct a probe into death of a woman on whom a drug trial was conducted by Dr Anil Bharani of MGM Medical College here.

In a letter to registrar state medical council issued last week, the MCI has forwarded a complaint lodged by Anil Saude, son of Chandrakala Bai, and asked the state body to investigate and take appropriate action against the doctor concerned under provisions of Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Ettiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.

Saude had alleged that his mother was subjected to the drug trial without consent.

Dr Bharani was the principal investigator for the trial on intravenous drug Tonapofylline in the study titled ‘Acute Decompensated heart failure (ADHF) with Renal Insufficiency” – A double blind placebo controlled study to assess the effect of intravenous Tonapofylline on body weight in subject with acute decompensated heart failure and Renal insufficiency.

The trial was sponsored by Biogen Idec Limited ,United Kingdom and Bangalore based Quintiles Research India, Saude claimed.

The complainant, who claimed to have got information about the drug trial on his mother through an Assembly question in 2012, alleged that it was conducted under the garb of medical treatment without proper consent.

“The principal investigator did not provide copy of informed consent form. The details he mentioned in the complaint were procured through RTI Act by Dr Anand Rai,” he claimed.

The doctors failed to give information to the relatives about the death due to clinical trial, Saude alleged adding no efforts were made by Dr. Anil Bharani, the investigator, for procuring and let being paid, the compensation from the Pharmaceutical Company.

The MCI has asked the MP medical council to send intimation related to Saude’s complaint to various bodies including other state medical councils in case the doctor is registered elsewhere

She was rushed to hospital where she succumbed on Thursday, the DSP said.

The victim’s kin told police she was persistenly harrased for dowry, the DSP said.

In her statement given to the Magistrate before her death, the victim told the police that her husband had set her on fire after thrashing her.

The DSP said Kaur had called up her brothers in Amritsar and expressed her fear that her husband may harm her.

“She told them that her husband was enraged as she had clipped his nails too deep cutting into the finger’s skin. After she made the phone call, Gurmej abused and thrashed Kaur and later sprinkled kerosene on her and set her on fire,” he said.

Two brothers of the victim rushed to Lohian, but found their sister in a semi-burnt condition and rushed her to civil hospital at Lohian, from where she was referred to a Jalandhar hospital, where she succumbed to her burn injuries, he said.

The brothers of the victim claimed she was pregnant, but the DSP said they were waiting for the postmortem report.

New Delhi, March 3 : In the continuing saga of state violence and oppression, when nearly 6 platoons of police were present in the area for starting the forceful land acquisition procedure, bombs were hurled at around 6:30 pm on a meeting room of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, at Patna Village, Dhinkia, Jagatsinghpur, killing Manas Jena – Age 32 died on the spot. Two others Nabanu Mandal – 35 and Narahari Sahoo – 52 succumbed to their injuries, since police didn’t respond to their call for ambulances on time. Mr. Laxman Paramanik was critically injured and is undergoing treatment at the moment.

This act of terror is extremely condemnable and will not deter the spirit of resistance. It is also unfortunate that rather than taking action against the company sponsored goons, who have attacked in past too, the district administration has been spreading canards that the people died while making bombs. The history of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti shows that the movement has been non-violent and peaceful even when the the state forces and goons have attacked them with ferocity on many occasions latest being on February 3rd.

It need to be mentioned that the movement has faced several instances of state repression, document in a recently release fact finding report titled, “Captive Democracy”. The report says that “230 cases had been filed implicating about 1500- 2000 villagers resisting POSCO between 2006 and 2012. Most of the complaints have left the number of accused open-ended, which allows the police to implicate any person in any case, despite not being specifically named therein. A large number of these cases have been filed by government officials during times of peaceful demonstrations by the members of the PPSS.”

Shri Abhaya Sahoo, the President of the PPSS was arrested on two occasions and has over 50 cases registered against him, including cases when he wasn’t present in the villages on the day of the alleged offence. Manorama Kathua, President Women’s Wing of the PPSS, aged about 29 years has several cases filed against her and has been unable to apply for bail due to financial constraints and has not left the village in 6-7 years. These are just few instances of arbitrary actions of the police and the impacts of the same.

Hence, it is unfortunate that the state is again trying to criminalise the movement and forcefully acquire the land. The sacrifices made by the activists to save their land and right to earn a dignified living must be respected. The actions of Orissa government is in complete violation of democratic norms and principles of justice. As of now the environmental clearance given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on January 31, 2011 stands suspended by the order of National Green Tribunal (NGT) dt March 30 2012. The project does not even have a memorandum of understanding with the state government now, with one signed on July 22, 2005 having lapsed. So what is the basis on which the state is acquiring land for the project ?

The nation needs an answer for this continued brutality and loss of life and livelihood and constant harassment and complete disruption of normal life. People’s movements from across the country stand in solidarity with the struggle of villagers of Jagatsinghpur and condemn this barbaric action of the state government and company sponsored goons.

The 3rd of March is International Sex Worker Rights Day. The day originated in 2001 when over 25,000 sex workers gathered in India for a sex worker festival. The organizers, Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a Calcutta based group whose membership consists of somewhere upwards of 50,000 sex workers and members of their communities. Sex worker groups across the world have subsequently celebrated 3 March as International Sex Workers’ Rights Day.

Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (2002): “We felt strongly that that we should have a day what need to be observed by the sex workers community globally. Keeping in view the large mobilization of all types of global sexworkers [Female,Male,Transgender], we proposed to observe 3rd March as THE SEX WORKERS RIGHTS DAY.

Durbar seeks to build a world where all marginalized communities live in an environment of respect, rights and dignity. Durbar hopes for a new social order where there is no discrimination by class, caste, gender or occupation and all individuals communities live in peace and harmony as global citizens.The Durbar MissionDurbar’s shared mission is to enhance a process of social and political change with an objective to establish, promote and strengthen the rights, dignity, social status, and improvement of the quality of life of all sex worker communities. Durbar wishes to integrate the sex workers movement with the broader global movement to establish rights of all marginalized communities in the globe through.
Improvement of image and self-esteem of marginalized communities.Influencing existing norms, policies and practices, operating at all levels in the society and out the nation state.Empowering communities through a process of collectivisation and capacity building and Addressing power relations within the trade and outside. Durbar is also Building Formal and informal alliances with individuals, groups, institutions and movements..

Research has demonstrated that the criminalization of sex work is associated with violence against sex workers, decreased access to health care, barriers to reporting human rights abuses, and disempowerment in condom negotiation (whether a sex worker’s wishes regarding condom use are respected). Governments should recognize and address the relationship between laws criminalizing sex work and the human rights violations that result from these laws.

Affirmation and defense of the rights of sex workers as an integral part of our work to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. International Sex Workers Rights Day isn’t just about securing the rights of sex workers; it’s about securing human rights.

Sex work is criminalized either through direct prohibitions on selling sexual services for money or through laws tha tprohibit solicitation of sex, living off of the earnings of sexwork, brothel-keeping, or procuring sexual services.Inaddition, sex workers are frequently prosecuted for non-

criminal offenses—often municipal-level administrative offenses—such as loitering, vagrancy, and impeding the flow of traffic. By reducing the freedom of sex workers to negotiate condom use with clients, organize for fair treatment, and publicly advocate for their rights, criminalization and aggressive policing have been shown to increase sex workers’ vulnerability to violence, extortion, and health risks.

Decriminalization is an issue of gender equality and sexual rights.Laws against sex work intrude into private sexual behaviors and constitute a form of state control over the bodies of women and transgender women, who make up a large majority of sex workers worldwide.like state controls over reproductive rights and limits on abortion, criminal laws prohibiting sex work attempt to legislate morality without regard for bodily autonomy. Decriminalizing sex work is a step in the direction of recognizing the right of all people to privacy and freedom from undue state control over sex and sexual expression.

Decriminalization refers to the removal of all criminal and administrative prohibitions and penalties on sex work, including laws targeting clients and brothel owners. Removing criminal prosecution of sex work goes hand-in-hand with recognizing sex work as work and protecting the rights of sex workers through workplace health and safety standards. Decriminalizing sex work allows workers to access financial services like bank accounts and insurance and other financial services.

Moreover,decriminalization means sex workers are more likely to live without stigma, social exclusion, and fear of violence.To effectively protect the health and rights of sex workers,governments must remove all criminal laws regulating sex work, including laws that criminalize the purchase of sex. Systems that maintain criminal penalties for clients who purchase sexual services continue to put sex workers at risk. Rather than ending demand for sex work, penalties on clients force sex workers to provide services in clandestine locations, which increases the risk of violence and limits the power of the sex workers in the transaction.When sex work is decriminalized, sex workers are empowered to realize their right to work safely, and to use the justice system to s eek redress for abuses and discrimination.Even if sex work is decriminalized, the prostitution of minors and human trafficking can and should remain criminal acts.

Criminal laws contribute to social marginalization not only through the imposition of legal penalties on sex workers prosecuted for specific acts,

but also through the assignment of criminal status to all sex workers,regardless of any particular arrest, charge, or prosecution.This sweeping

condemnation leads to widespread discrimination, stigma, and illtreatment in social institutions and services, by health providers, police,

and the general public. Decriminalization removes one source of stigma,the criminal label that serves to validate mistreatment or social exclusion.

In India, Sex workers are unhappy with Justice Verma Committee’s recommendations which, according to them, equate human trafficking with sex work and define prostitution as exploitation.The proposed Section 370 in the ordinance seeks to include prostitution as a form of exploitation. If this is accepted, it would criminalize sex workers since it does not differentiate between coercive prostitution and prostitution. Neither does it talk about the exploitation of prostitution.

For decades we have been demanding decriminalization of sex work, dignity of labour for sex workers and protection from exploitation by various sections of the society, including clients, goons and police.Terming prostitution ‘exploitation’ contradicts the Supreme Court which upheld the rights of women employed in sex work while observing that Article 21 grants them a right to live with dignity.

It also goes against the commitment made by India, which is a signatory and has ratified the UN Protocol on human trafficking in 2011.

According to this, Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.Instead of protection of sex workers, the ordinance will make them more vulnerable to exploitation and snatch away their livelihood.The inclusion of voluntary and consenting sex work into the definition of exploitation has angered sex workers.It will be a big setback to our struggle to get recognition of sex work as work, social protection for sex workers and assuring them workers’ rights.

The first pan-India survey of female sex workers was done in 2011 under the aegis of Centre for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalization, Sangli, was conducted by Rohini Sahni and V Kalyan Shakar of the Department of Economics, University of Pune. This unique survey documents the lived realities of sex workers; delves into the complex details of their day-to-day interactions; the stigma and marginalization they experience and attempts to understand the challenges they face as well as their complex responses. The survey pools together a large national level sample of 3000 unorganized sex workers from 14 states. The women who participated in the survey are from various geographies, ages, family backgrounds, languages, sites of operation, migratory patterns, incomes and cultures.

Bangalore – Internationally recognized expert on law and poverty Dr. Usha Ramanathan Saturday urged citizens of the country to question the enforcement of the UID scheme that has no legitimacy.

Addressing the gathering of people from various sections of the society at a workshop- The Unique Identity Number (UID), National Population Register (NPR), and Governance – organized by the ‘Centre for Internet and Society’ and the ‘Say No to UID Campaign’ Ramanathan said that the enforcement of UID scheme is unconstitutional and a mere a experiment on the population.

The scheme is full of ambiguity, confusions and suspicions; while UIDAI says it as voluntary, other government agencies and enterprises have made them mandatory. Neither the government nor the UIDAI officials have the satisfactory answers for the concerns of citizens, she said.

Saying that the ‘Data’ is one of the important properties today, she elaborated that how the individual’s privacy and confidential data was breached after sharing with many companies and agencies, despite the assurances from the authorities.

Emphasizing the resistance against enforcement of UID scheme, another speaker Col. Mathew Thomas of Citizen Action Forum Bangalore, said “If we don’t resist this scheme now, we are putting pushing poor people of the country into more vulnerable situation. We need to fight it by protests and legal means.”

The workshop also discussed the National Population register (NPR), its impact on citizenship and the governance, and how they are linked with national security.

Honourable Ex-President of India, ShriAPJ Abdul Kalam, has become of an oracle of technology driven big development ideas and tours extensively igniting minds. His role as a roving ambassador for big ticket ideas is so appreciated by the Indian establishment that he is often fielded as a last word in Science in many controversial projects in the country. If Kalam has said it, then how dare can it be untrue goes the general argument. A delightfully informative exchange occurred recently on a forum [http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/andamanicobar/message/9844]

Friends… sometime ago there were a few posts on this group where former
President of India Sri A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was quoted as saying the last tsunami
was only 5.44 metres in height. I need to read this … in context and I need
the full quote. Can anyone help me please?
Many thanks
Malini

I feel the truth should now be unraveled. The Hon ex-President of India Shri
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was visiting Campbell Bay incognito in late 2004. On
December 26, Boxing Day, he climbed a hilltop in the vicinity of Campbell Bay, a
hilltop that has since been named “Tsunami Tikri”, to enjoy the sunrise.

With his 20-20 vision he espied a large wall of water making its way speedily
towards the shore.

Being a former DRDO functionary, he immediately realised the import of the
situation, and ordered a laser rangefinder to be dropped immediately. He then
trained it on the aforesaid wall of water. With his scientific acumen he took
repeated measurements to reduce the standard deviations of his observations.

This is where there seems to be a mistake. The wave, as per his measurement, was
5.4 +/- 0.002 m, and not 5.44m as has been popularly discussed in this group.
This information seems to be highly dubious.

I guess its reasonable to assume that this was the first out of several waves.
Subsequent measurements would have proved difficult.